It is really ironic that when Geng Ming's family was reunited, Wang Hong, who was still in the limelight a few days ago, was being escorted out of the capital by several yamen runners.

When Wang Hong looked back at the city gate, he still couldn't believe it. He hoped so much that all this was just a nightmare.

How much this all feels like a nightmare.

It's so unreal.

But an earpiece made this nightmare come true.

This time Zhang Fei did not come to see him off in person, but stepped on him hard again.

The reason is very simple. When Wang Wenshan left, he was still an official, he was just transferred out. So of course it made sense to step on him, at least it felt great!

Wang Hong has been exiled to Qiongzhou and he probably won't be able to come back, so there's not much point in stepping on him.

Zhang Fei is here, and I don’t know what to say.

But there were also some people who came to see him off.

...

...

Just two or three miles out of the capital, I saw four middle-aged men in Confucian robes standing next to a small teahouse. They were Gu Ji, the judge of Taifu Temple, Shen Huaixiao, the judge of Salt and Iron, Cao Han, the transport envoy, and Li Zhan, the censor.

If Wang Hong had no one in the court, no matter how capable he was, he would not have been promoted so quickly. In fact, he had many supporters in the court.

In fact, this incident was also arranged by them behind the scenes.

Little did he know that this would backfire and completely destroy a rising political star.

Those yamen runners were also very sensible. After receiving some tips, they took the wine and meat and sat under the straw shed nearby to eat.

They had long expected that this job would be a lucrative one.

Along the way, anyone who wants to see Wang Hong must be given some benefits.

"Brother Wang, I'm so sorry, we have all tried our best, but......"

When Li Zhan saw Wang Hong, he said with a guilty look on his face.

Wang Hong said nothing.

He really wasn't in the mood to say anything.

Cao Han said, "Brother Wang, don't be too depressed. It's still a long way from here to Qiongzhou. We have already arranged for them to go slower so that you won't suffer on the road. At the same time, we will also work hard in the court to ask the government to change the sentence. Just take this opportunity to relax."

Hearing this, Wang Hong's heart was filled with hope again. He bowed and said, "I'll leave it to you all."

He was very unwilling in his heart.

"Hi...."

Gu Ji sighed in annoyance: "I never thought that with so many ministers like us, we are still no match for a little sly pen. This is really... Alas..."

When talking about Zhang Fei, Wang Hong's eyes flashed with resentment, "If I had known this would happen, I should have killed that little idiot. Maybe he wouldn't be in such a miserable state now."

Shen Huaixiao said: “That little ear pen is nothing at all, the key is the person behind him.”

Gu Ji said: "Are you talking about Xu Zhongtu?"

Chen Huaixiao waved his hand and said, "Xu Zhongtu is an honest man. At most, he would say a few words about the judiciary. Otherwise, he basically keeps silent. I'm talking about Wang Jiefu. All along, it was Wang Jiefu who supported the ear pen. Didn't you notice that every lawsuit filed by the ear pen was in favor of Wang Jiefu?"

Cao Han nodded and said, "Brother Shen is right. After this lawsuit, the biggest winner is also Wang Jiefu. It sounds good to check the land and make up the taxes, but in fact it is just to enrich the national treasury. Isn't this what Wang Jiefu wants? You wait and see. This is just a test. When the time comes, he will definitely carry out reforms on the land, and none of us can escape."

….Li Zhan sighed, "It's a pity that the Grand Secretary Sima insisted on fighting Wang Jiefu in the court of law, but he couldn't win. Was this the lawsuit that Fan Sijian wanted to fight? He lost every time. If I were him, I would have resigned and stayed home long ago, and I wouldn't feel ashamed."

......

Several people were complaining indignantly, but Wang Hong, the protagonist, remained silent.

Shen Huaixiao and others looked at each other.

The older Gu Ji spoke to comfort him, "Brother Wang, now that things have come to this, you must take care of yourself. As long as you have a healthy life, you will never have to worry about having no firewood to burn!"

Wang Hong was startled, raised his head and looked at them, saying: "Don't worry, I, Wang Hong, will not be defeated. It's just that you just mentioned checking the land and paying the taxes?"

Shen Huaixiao nodded and said, "The court is using this lawsuit to investigate the land in Kaifeng and Xiangfu counties. Although many people are dissatisfied, there is nothing we can do. If we don't appease the people's grievances, it will be difficult to report to the emperor."

Wang Hong suddenly turned his head and looked at the farmers working hard in the fields in the distance, seeming to be thinking about something.

Cao Han was quite familiar with Wang Hong, so he asked, "Brother Wang, what are you thinking about?"

Wang Hong turned around and smiled coldly: "This matter is not over yet."

Shen Huaixiao was in high spirits, "What do you mean?"

Wang Hong said: "You all should know that most of the big landlords rent their land to tenant farmers for cultivation."

Several people nodded.

Wang Hong said: "As far as I know, the contracts they signed with tenants are generally divided into two types. One is to split the income 50-50; the other is to pay a fixed amount of rent. But no matter which one it is, most landlords let the tenants bear the taxes."

Gu Ji said: "Those tenant farmers usually pay their taxes in full, so there won't be any problems with the land."

Wang Hong smiled and said, "Those are tax-paying fields. There are also a lot of tax-free fields that are also rented out to tenant farmers for cultivation. However, those landlords did not give those tenant farmers any advantage. They just exempted the taxes and included them in the rent. Now that the court wants to pursue taxes, who should bear this part of the tax revenue?"

Shen Huaixiao frowned slightly: “Those big landlords will definitely let the tenant farmers bear the cost.”

Wang Hong laughed and said, "When those tenants paid the rent, they actually paid at least half of the taxes. Now the court wants to conduct a comprehensive investigation and ask them to pay the land tax. This means that these tenants have to pay another tax. Is this really to appease the people's grievances?"

Several people looked at each other and laughed.

......

......

Bian Jing Law Firm.

"Hey! You're all back!"

When Zhang Fei returned to the Bian Jing Law Firm, he saw that the store, which had been silent for more than half a month, suddenly became lively. The clerks were all busy in the store, and Manager Fan no longer stayed behind the counter swatting flies.

"Zhang Sanlang!"

"Brother Zhang San!"

When everyone saw Zhang Fei coming, they immediately gathered around him.

"We shouldn't have blamed you before, Sanlang."

"Yes! It's all because we are ignorant and wrongly blamed Sanlang."

"In fact, we are all responsible for this matter. We took the money and had to do the job. How can we blame Sanlang entirely?"

......

Everyone apologized to Zhang Fei with shame on their faces, one after another.

They all went to watch the lawsuit and witnessed with their own eyes how Zhang Fei sought justice for them. They were moved but also felt guilty. They believed that Zhang Fei should not have to bear all this alone.

….So after the lawsuit was over, they immediately stopped their vacation and returned to the store without any prior arrangement.

Zhang Fei said, "I compensated you at the beginning only because I was indeed wrong, and there is nothing worth discussing now. As for me seeking justice for you, that is also natural, so you don't need to apologize to me, let alone feel guilty.

The only thing we need to reflect on is that we learn from our mistakes. Although the court has allowed us to continue to calculate taxes, we still need to think carefully and not act rashly...!"

As he was speaking, a gust of wind blew past him.

Fan Li whispered, "It seems to be Sima Daxueshi."

Eating from two families is really a technical job! Zhang Fei sighed to himself, and said to them: "You should discuss it carefully first, what kind of problems will this tax calculation transaction encounter, and then we will hold a meeting to discuss it."

"Yes! We got it."

Everyone nodded in unison, and their expressions became relaxed.

They also gradually figured out Zhang Fei's temper. He had the same attitude towards himself and others. If they did something wrong, Zhang Fei would scold them.

But if Zhang Fei does something wrong, even if no one scolds him, he will punish himself and try his best to make up for it.

This actually allows them to unload some of the burden.

We are all the same, so there is nothing to complain about.

It is just like what Confucius said, we should not worry about the scarcity of wealth but the inequality of wealth.

The same is true in the workplace.

After giving the instructions, Zhang Fei instructed Fan Li again: "No one can go to the backyard without my permission."

Fan Li nodded.

Zhang Fei wiped his sweat and walked towards the backyard nervously.

Arriving at the backyard, Zhang Fei bowed to Sima Guang and said, "I, Zhang Fei, greet the Grand Secretary Sima."

Sima Guang tilted his head and glared: "In court, did your last words help you win the case?"

Zhang Fei said awkwardly: "A little bit."

Sima Guang asked, "Did Wang Jiefu instruct you to say that?"

"no."

Zhang Fei shook his head.

"That's not what you said?"

Sima Guang jumped up and said, "The key is that your words are based on generalizations and are taken out of context. They make no sense at all. Who said that keeping wealth among the people refers specifically to the big landlords and gentry? You are simply talking nonsense."

Although his judicial reform was promoted, his political philosophy was still the Confucian idea of ​​light taxes and levies and sharing wealth with the people. If you deny this, he would not want to be an official anymore.

He was neither greedy for money nor lustful. Like Wang Anshi, he wanted to promote his own political ideas.

The key point is that when Wang Anshi met him recently, he started chanting scriptures, "Share the wealth with the people, share the wealth with the people..."

He was really about to be pissed off to death.

You have to know that Sima Guang also contributed to making this lawsuit possible. He did not oppose it with all his strength, and the reason was Zhang Fei.

As a result, he was stabbed in the back by this guy.

The more I think about it, the angrier I get. I have to talk to Zhang Fei. Which side are you on?

Zhang Fei explained: "I am not generalizing or quoting out of context, but the idea of ​​sharing wealth with the people is problematic in itself."

Seeing that this guy was still arguing with him, Sima Guang asked Zhang Fei aggressively: "What's the problem? What's the problem? Do you understand why I insist on light taxes and levies and keeping the wealth for the people?"

…This old man is crazy! Zhang Fei kept backing away and said, "Master Sima, calm down and listen to my explanation. I certainly understand Master Sima's idea of ​​sharing wealth with the people."

Sima Guang pointed at Zhang Fei and said, "Then you say it."

"Master Sima, please take a seat."

“No!”

Sima Guang said angrily: "Do you know that it is because of what you said that Wang Jiefu......!"

"What about Grand Secretary Wang?" Zhang Fei asked with a gossipy look on his face.

Sima Guang said, "Don't change the subject, just talk about your own things."

That old man Wang is really something. It would be enough if he just took advantage of the situation. He had to anger the old man. I am the one who suffers. Zhang Fei nodded and explained, "Since ancient times, whenever the landlords and gentry were exploited, the people would only suffer more."

Sima Guang snorted, "You know that, but you still say that."

Feudal society is also a class society, not a legal society. There is no concept of equality for all. The reason why the emperor collected taxes from the landlords was that I was at a higher level.

This is why property redistribution was very difficult in feudal society.

Transferring taxes from the common people to the landlords is like allowing the water in a dam to flow from the bottom to the top.

But how is this possible?

Therefore, as long as the country increases tax revenue, no matter how you play it, it will eventually be transferred to the bottom.

If the landlords live well, the common people may not live well, but if the land is not living well, the common people will definitely live worse.

Maybe at a certain moment, the people can get a respite, but they will soon become worse off than before.

Sima Guang read history books every day and compiled Zizhi Tongjian, so he thought that the best way was to reduce taxes and levies and keep the wealth among the people.

Zhang Fei said: "But the facts have proven that the current policy of distributing wealth among the people actually has many problems, which is tantamount to chronic death."

Sima Guang said excitedly: "That is better than Wang Jiefu's immediate death."

Zhang Fei immediately said, "So the Grand Secretary Sima is just choosing the lesser of two evils?"

Sima Guang was stunned and snorted, "I never said that. Learning from history, reducing taxes and levies and keeping wealth in the hands of the people is the only way to achieve long-term peace and stability."

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "I agree with these eight words very much, but how does Sima Daxueshi explain the phenomenon of Wei Yushan?"

Sima Guang said: "It is inevitable that there will be some black sheep. Even in the court there are many corrupt officials. But you cannot generalize and think that all gentry and landlords are like Wei Yushan. There are still many gentry and landlords who are very righteous. For example, Geng Ming is also a landlord. If wealth is in the hands of people like Geng Ming, isn't it good?"

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "In fact, Grand Secretary Sima has already pointed out the biggest problem with keeping wealth among the people."

Sima Guang was stunned. "What's the problem?"

Zhang Fei said: "It is the morality of Confucianism."

Chief Justice of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Nancy Beiqing reminds you: Remember to collect it after reading it